April 13, 2005
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IN THE BATTER'S BOX: UNLV travels to the Bee Hive State for a three-game series with Utah that begins Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. (PT) at Franklin Covey Field. The two teams will square off again on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. before wrapping up the series Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: UNLV dropped two of three games at home to visiting BYU last weekend in a matchup of the league's top two teams. The Cougars took the first two games of the series 5-0 and 11-9. After being shut out in the first game, the Rebels' offense picked it back up and had a 7-5 lead heading into the final three innings. BYU outscored UNLV 6-2 over the final three frames to get the win. Zeke Parraz and Justin Tellam each hit home runs in the defeat. UNLV prevented the sweep in Saturday's game, jumping out to an early four-run lead on its way to a 10-6 win. Ryan Bird and Matt Fry slugged home runs and Derek Rodriguez worked six innings to earn his second win of the year.
UNLV REBELS(15-21, 9-3 MWC)Head Coach: Buddy Gouldsmith(52-45, 2nd year):
UNLV heads into this weekend's series with Utah just a game out of first place with a 9-3 record in the Mountain West Conference. The Rebels are averaging 9.9 runs per game in 12 league contests. As a team UNLV is hitting .272 with 23 home runs. The pitching staff comes into this week's games with a 4.96 ERA. Leading the UNLV offense is third baseman Mike Cruz, who is hitting .340 with a home run and 11 RBI. Zeke Parraz is hitting .311 with a team-high 31 RBI. Chris Bonnell has a .310 average with four home runs and 24 RBI. Sophomore catcher Justin Tellam leads the club with nine home runs. Matt Luca has won three of his last five starts and brings a 3-5 record into his start on Friday. Luca leads the team with 44 strikeouts and he has a 4.18 ERA. Koji Pupo sports a 3-0 record and a 4.07 ERA while Derek Rodriguez is 2-4 with 38 strikeouts. Kyle Tabeek leads the club with three saves out of the bullpen and Alex Chalfant has a 2.31 ERA in 18 appearances, giving up just six earned runs.
UTAH UTES:(11-19, 4-8 MWC)Head Coach: Bill Kinneberg(41-41, 2nd year):
Utah is coming off a record-setting performance last weekend as the Utes beat Air Force 32-4 Saturday to complete a three-game sweep. The 32 runs were most scored in the history of the Mountain West Conference and Utah's 34 hits in the game was also a league record. The Utes are batting .306 as a team and have a team ERA of 4.96. Doug Beck has a team-high .374 (43-115) batting average and has scored 19 runs and 26 RBI. John Welsh leads the Utes in RBI with 27 and Clayne Garrett has hit a team-best six home runs. Friday's starter will be Jason Price and he is 1-6 this year with a 4.18 ERA in 10 starts. Matt Crockett and Brian Lane each have three wins for the Utes and Josh Cooper has three saves and a 2.19 ERA in 14 appearances.
ON DECK: UNLV returns home for a three-game series with New Mexico and it will be the second-to-last home series for the Rebels. The first game is set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
